Leading the final 33 circuits around the quarter-mile bullring he once dominated in the Kenyon Midget ranks, Hamilton was understandably emotional in victory lane.
“We’ve been right there, (finishing) in the top five … but have just had some unfortunate events that stopped us from getting the win in the past,” Hamilton said in victory lane. “Tonight we were finally able to pull it off.”
“That lucky pit stop really played into our favor, and we were gaining on the leaders exponentially (in the closing laps). This was just a crazy race tonight. I can’t believe we won it!”
Saturday’s Little 500 triumph for Hamilton follows a national midget win he scored at the Rumble in Fort Wayne this past December, marking two of the biggest wins in open wheel racing over the last six months.
“This is the most amazing feeling,” Hamilton admitted. “To be standing in victory lane, with the win in this race … it means the world to me.”
Santos used fresh tires to charge back onto the lead lap with 14 to go, but fell 5.913 seconds short in his quest for a maiden Little 500 victory.
Stewart, however, was the story of the night. After starting 21st, he found his way into the top 10 by lap 150 and remained there the rest of the way.
Through pit stop cycles and Swanson’s torrid pace during sections of the event, Stewart found himself two laps down at the finish, but still landed on the podium and received Rookie of the Race honors driving the Mean Green Cleaners/Dynamics Inc. No. 69 for Hoffman Auto Racing.
In describing his run after the checkered flag, Stewart summed up his experience simply and profoundly.
“This race was everything I ever expected it to be … and so much more,” smiled the retired three-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion.
“It took a while to figure out what I could do,” he said. “The Hoffman’s know the strategy here. With 150 laps to go I had Kody (Swanson) in my sights to get the lap back.”
Swanson rebounded from his late-race skirmish with Hamilton to finish fourth, while Mickey Kempgens carried the banner for the Florida contingent in fifth.
Polesitter Caleb Armstrong led the first 101 laps but faded to sixth, ahead of Scotty Hampton, Shane Cottle, Jacob Wilson and Ken Schrader.
Sixth-starting Austin Nemire was involved in a scary crash on lap 30, catching air and sailing hard into the outside wall in turn one. The 18-year-old climbed out under his own power, but his car was demolished after the impact.
Nemire was credited with 32nd in the final finishing order, while his teammate Aaron Pierce later went flipping down the backstretch on lap 121 and also retired from the race.
Race results and a full statistical report can be found on the next page…
